fitting 315's - is the bumpstop critical?
 

Putting 315's (on 17x11's) on the rear of my 01 T/A- they don't rub anywhere inside the well, but even after cutting down the bumpstop mounting and removing the bumpstop bracket I can't quite get the wheels mounted up without keeping the suspension under load, so the bumpstop goes inside the wheel. I took it for a test drive like this, and it seemed to work, but is this safe? Couldn't a tire get damaged or blow out if I got air in the rear? Is this setup more/less dangerous than removing the bumpstop entirely?


would love to know if any of you guys are running this way, or what kind of problems you've had with it.

-sectari

I removed the bumpstops completly on all of my cars and have had no issues. Unless you going to be jumping ditches I don't see how the car could compress the shocks or the springs enough to ever hit each other. It will be fine just take them off.

I totally disaggree . . . I've run 315's and never done a thing to the bumpstop. Id rater have the protection of the axle being stopped in compression, then to worry about going air bourne . . .

I am running 17"x11" Budniks with 315's in the rear of my Firehawk and they cleared just fine.No rubbing or bumpstop problems at all. :)

If you're lowered, you definitely dont wanna remove the bumpstop, if you're never gonna lower the car, you can remove it if you want, but i wouldn't do it.

I removed my bump stops and relocated them to the axle itself. The bump stop will actually fit inside the rim (depending on the wheel offset) at which point, if the spring extends it will hit the inside of the rim and I'd think would do some damage. Lowering the car would actuall help in this case, not hinder. There are several reasons why a spring would extend, not just jumping ditches, driving on an incline at an angle, curbes etc, not to mention jacking the car.

I see no problems with removing them, but you can always relocate or redesign them. I've seen several redesigned bump stops that allow for 11" rim. I myself cut hockey pucks and glued them to the axle for bump stops.

I'm not planning on lowering it (been there with a slammed 'stang- I'm enjoying the clearance).
Judas, you have an excellent point about driving on inclines, I didn't think of that. Could you spare some details about how/where you relocated your bumpstops, or the ones you've seen? Did you attach the hockey pucks where the (now removed) bumpstop would have hit or somewhere further inside? Any details would be much appreciated.
I did think of pounding the stop further inward but it looks like it would get too close to the spring.
thanks.

-sectari

It will be very very hard to explain what I did. It's still kind of a work in process. I'm going to remove the springs and jack the axle to see exactly where it hits and best location for the bumps. I think it is best if I just do a write up (with pictures) once I get it perfected.

But for now, I have a moser 12 bolt, so the axel was exaclty 3" in diameter. I cut a hockey puck with a 3" circle so it would kinda wrap around the axle. I glued it in the exact point on the axle that the old bump stops would have contacted the axel(now just a peice of sheet metal). I also bolted on a peice of stip metal to lower the point of contact with the hockey puck (there is actually a hole further up the wheel well that was just perfect location for this).

Like I said, very hard to explain exactly what I did.